I just happened to read another post not related to this issue that gave me an idea. This boat, unlike my others, has an aussie job halyard. Is it possible that I am unintentionally putting too much tension on the jib with the aid of the 3:1 halyard and that this is causing the problem. I am cranking down on the jib halyard pretty hard, just like I did on my old boats except now I have the aussie halyard so maybe I hsould be taking it a little easier. I never considered this. I'd be happy to hear any other ideas of potential sources for this problem or confirmation of my hunch if anyone knows.

I hadn't really thought about it before now, but how much tension should be on the jib... of course enough that the forestay goes slack... but how far beyond that?